SEOUL (Yonhap) -- The following is a chronological review of major developments related to North Korea from August 12-18, 2010.

August 12 Ri Yong-ho, chief of the General Staff of the (North) Korean People's Army (KPA), holds talks with the Chinese public security delegation headed by Liu Jing, executive vice minister of Public Security.

12 The DPRK (North Korea)-China youth joint friendship meeting, attended by officials of the Central Committee of the youth league, youth and students in Pyongyang and members of the Chinese youth friendship delegation, takes place in Pyongyang.

12 The KCNA says that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il received gifts from the Chinese public security delegation and the councilor of the European Society for the Study of the Juche Idea staying in the DPRK.

12 Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun sends a congratulatory message to Maria Angela Holguin on her assumption of office as foreign minister of Colombia.

13 Kim Yong-nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA), sends a message of greetings to Denis Sassou Nguesso, president of Congo, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of its independence.

13 Yun Ki-jong, alternate member of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of (North) Korea (WPK) and deputy to the SPA, passes away of acute cardiac insufficiency. He was 81.

14 Jang Jae-on, chairman of the Central Committee of the North's Red Cross Society, sends a notice to his South Korean counterpart that Han Sang-ryeol, a South Korean reverend who made an unauthorized trip to the North, will return home on Aug. 20.

15 The North, South and Overseas Side Committees for Implementing the June 15 Joint Declaration make a joint appeal to all their fellow countrymen at home and abroad on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of Korea's liberation.

15 Kim Yong-nam sends a congratulatory message to Paul Kagame upon his re-election as president of Rwanda.

15 Kim Yong-nam sends a message of greetings to Dmitri Anatolievich Medvedev, president of the Russian Federation, on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of Korea's liberation.

15 Minister of Foreign Trade Ri Ryong-nam and Russian Minister of Regional Development Viktor Basargin hold talks at the Mansudae Assembly Hall in Pyongyang on boosting economic ties. Basargin and his delegation also make a courtesy call to Kim Yong-nam.

16 The KCNA says that Kim Jong-il sent a wreath to the bier of Yun Ki-jong.

16 Yang Hyong-sop, vice president of the Presidium of the SPA, holds talks with the visiting Chinese youth friendship delegation led by Zhou Zhangkui.

16 The KCNA in a commentary blasts the "Ulchi Freedom Guardian," a joint South Korea-U.S. war game, calling it a "grave military provocation to wreck peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula."

17 Kim Yong-nam sends a message of greetings to Ali Bongo Ondimba, president of Gabon, on the occasion of its 50th independence day.

17 Pak Ui-chun sends a message of greetings to Raden Mohammad Marty Muliana Natalegawa, foreign minister of Indonesia, on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of its independence.

17 The KCNA reports that Kim Jong-il viewed the light comedy "Echo of Mountain" at the Hamhung Grand Theatre together with servicepersons of the Korean People Army.

18 A spokesman at the North's foreign ministry condemns the U.S. and South Korea for their Ulchi Freedom Guardian joint military exercise and threatens to respond with a "fearful" attack.

18 South Korean Rev. Han Sang-ryol, who visited the North in June to attend a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of a historic inter-Korean summit, meets with the North's media and foreign correspondents at the People's Palace of Culture in Pyongyang and talks about his planned return to the South. The trip was not approved by Seoul.